The Stranger From The Plane
by TheBadBoys
Summary: EDITING! Bella Swan is the cowboy boot wearing country girl. What happens when she meets a bronze haired Adonis on the plane? Will they see each other again? Rated M for possible future lemons and language. AH, OOC
1. She's Country

**A/N: Hello! Old and new readers of this story. I have decided to start editing this story, because the ay I wrote it years ago makes me want to scratch my eyes out. Anyhow, here is the updated and edited chapter. I do hope you like it.**

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**Chapter 1 - She's Country**

_She's all about the country_

_From the backwoods she's a homegrown,_

_down to the bone,_

_she's country._

_**Jason Aldean - She's Country**_

**Bella.**

It was a rainy day in New York. I had just stepped out of my apartment building and I hadn't had enough sense in me to check the weather before. Meaning, now I didn't have an umbrella. By the time I got to Starbucks, I was soaking wet. I most certainly looked like a crossbreed of a wet cat and a raccoon. Attractive, I know. I saw Angela, my best friend, sitting in a table in the far corner of the shop. We had a rule that whoever gets here first buys the coffee. I smiled, because this was one of the things I was going to miss about New York.

"Hey!" I greeted as I sat down onto the soft seat, my slight southern accent was muffled by the business of the place. It's funny having a southern accent this far up in the North, even if it is barely noticeable. People always find it odd and slightly alien, but it something you get used to.

"Hi," She sighed sadly, her fingers playing with the cover of the coffee cup. Angela Weber, my very own best friend, towered over me with her good 6'1 compared my my 5'6 height. She has light brown hair with streaks of a honey blonde and what I like to call 'Always-gentle' brown eyes... Compared to my poo-brown eyes. She's beautiful really, which makes me feel awfully boring and dull.

Angela had been so down about me leaving, that it almost made me want to stay. "Oh come on, you're totally killing my buzz here. It's not like I'm moving to Alaska for God's sake! You'll be able to visit, and I'll come to visit. There are emails, phones and damn texts and skype. You're not losing me."

She sighed. "I know, I know, I'm sorry. Ugh. It's just weird and sad. Small old Bella, finally going off on her own. And you're right. I'm making this much more dramatic than it has to be... I'm sorry." She shook her head.

"You know why I have to leave. If I would have to live in New York any longer I think I would have a mental breakdown." It was true. New York held so much memories for me, good and bad. … Mostly bad. Plus, I felt like I needed something new. An adventure, if you will.

We ordered our lunch and spoke of past events. We rambled aimlessly about things we had been through and if things would have been different if we would have made different choices. We briefly spoke of Angela's wedding. She was getting married to Ben, an absolutely amazing person, in two months time.

Speaking of Ben, he came to pick us up from Starbucks. We drove to my apartment, to pick up my bags and turn in my apartment key to my landlord. I took a moment saying goodbye to the apartment. Despite all of the bad memories, this place had some pretty damn good ones too. I spent a good half an hour sitting in various rooms, embracing the silence and saying goodbye.

After a tearful goodbye to my landlord, we were off to the airport. I was travelling fairly light. I only had a few bags filled with things that I need the most. The rest was going to be shipped in in a few days.

_x_

"I'll miss you so much, Bella!" Angela sobbed and she squeezed me tighter.

I hugged her back just as tightly while tears made their way down my cheeks. This was harder than I thought it was going to be. "Come visit me any time okay? Or call me. I will be there for you, you know that!" Eventually we had to let go of each other.

I gave Ben a hug too. Ben was nice to hug, probably because he was closer to my height. Ben stood at 5'7 with black hair, brown eyes and golden brown skin. He, at least in some form, is from Asian descent.

Before boarding the plane, I quickly visited the bathroom to touch up my make up. I was wearing simple and comfortable clothes. A dark blue v-neck t-shirt which was a little bit too big for me, but that's what made it comfortable. I paired them with some black skinny jeans, that thankfully were stretchy, and a simple pair of black converse. Over that I had a leather jacket and with me a small carry-on bag.

Soon enough I was on the plane and in my seat. I had an isle seat, which sucked. I was kind of hoping that no one would sit next to me so I could look out of the window. I put my iPod to play and leaned back in my seat. About five minutes before the plane was supposed to take off I felt a small tap on my shoulder. I quickly looked up and pulled my headphones off.

"Yes?" I questioned.

He pointed to the window seat. "I sit there... Do yo-"

"Oh yeah, sorry. Of course. I took my iPod into my hand and stood up. Letting him pass and sit down. I do have to admit, that I did ogle at his ass for a second. Then me being me, blushed so I forced myself to look away. The seatbelt sign went on just as we were both seated again.

He looked important. He had an expensive looking dark grey suit with a dark purple tie, paired off with a pair of nice black shoes. I did have to admit that he was quite handsome too... Okay, who am I kidding, he was basically Adonis. He had messy brown hair that reflected a weird reddish-bronze and the most stunning green eyes. He had fairly pale skin, a very strong jaw and a straight nose. To top it off, he was blessed with very kissable looking lips. He looked a few years older than me, somewhere around 26 or 27.

Once we were in the air, he pulled out some papers from his briefcase and started going through those. My phone started ringing a few hours into the journey.

"_You boys ever met a real country girl? Talkin, true blue, out in the woods, down home, country girl._" My phone rang, thankfully I hadn't left it on full volume. I quickly grabbed my bag and started digging through it, trying to locate my phone. "_She's a hot little number in her pick-up truck. Daddy's sweet money done jacked it up. She's a party-all-nighter from South Carolina, a bad mamajama from down in Alabama She's a raging cajun, a lunatic from Brunswick, juicy Georgia peach. With a thick southern drawl, sexy swing and walk, brother she's all._" I finally found it and pressed 'Answer'.

"What a pleasant surprise, James." I said into the phone, while smiling.

"Do you not know that you aren't supposed to use phones on a plane?" James wondered with a chuckle.

"And yet you're still calling." I pointed out. James and I have quite the history. To give a short version of it... We've dated, but that didn't work out. So we both decided it's best if we don't date. Ever since then we've stayed close friends.

"Oh sweetheart is there any other way?" He laughed. "I was just checking up on you, making sure you hopped onto the right plane and all."

"Well, when I end up in the ass-crack of America, you will be the first one to know." I said, smiling.

"Good, good. Let me know when you land."

"I will." I promised. After a few seconds of silence, I spoke up. "Did you have anything else?"

"I uh... Um..." He paused. "No. Yeah. No. I'll talk to you some other time."

"O-kay?" I said hesitantly, quirking an eyebrow while I stared at my knees.

"Just forget about it." He said. "Oh and one more thing." He cleared his throat and then yelled "DON'T HAVE TOO MUCH SEX AND GET HERPES!"

This caused me to pull the phone away from my ear and let out an unnatural hiss/gasp sound. "James. Oh my God, behave." I laughed, blushing. "Now I know why my dad didn't like you."

"I'm just that good." James retorted with his voice full of cockiness.

We soon ended the call and I put my phone away. Just as I was about to put my headphones back in, the man next to me spoke.

"Sorry, but uh. What song is your ringtone?" He turned to me. I just stared at him for a moment. "It's just that it sounds so familiar and I can't put my finger onto it."

"Oh!" I said, snapping out of my trance. "It's titled 'She's Country' by Jason Aldean. Lots of radio stations are playing it at the moment."

Edward grimaced and nodded. "Huh, I knew I've heard it somewhere." He smiled. "Edward Cullen, pleased to meet you."

"Bella Swan." I replied and we shook hands. When our skin touched, it was odd... Like there was a bolt of electricity shooting through my hand and into my body. I felt like yanking my hand out of his grasp, but that would have been awfully rude. I noticed that Edward shot our hands a puzzling gaze.

We made small talk for the rest of the trip and he seemed to be a cool guy, plus he was damn good looking too. We laughed and we even flirted a little. I had to admit that it was pretty much one of the best flights that I have ever had.

"Attention passengers, Attention passengers. We will be landing in Seattle in 5 minutes. Please fasten your seatbelts. We hope you enjoyed the flight. The Captain and the Crew thanks you for flying with us." The lady on the speaker said, as the seatbelt button went on again.

"Thanks for the company, Edward." I said with a smile. "It was a pleasure."

He grinned at me, the fact that his grin was slightly crooked just added brownie points for him. "Trust me, the pleasure was all mine, Bella." Also the fact that I liked the way that he said my name a little too much, was slightly unsettling.

The plane landed, we went to claim our luggage and then said our goodbyes. About 10 minutes after he left, I wished that I would have asked for his number so I would have at least known somebody in Seattle. I managed to get my three luggages to a cab.

"Where we off to, young lady?" The cabbie asked, he was an older gentleman.

"The Jackson Street apartments." I said politely. When we finally arrived, I gave the cabbie a 50 dollar bill and told him to keep the change.

With my three luggages in tow, I walked into the big apartment building. I was greeted by a man in his 40's by the name of Spencer. He was about 5'8 and slightly overweight. He had sandy blonde hair with a few bits of grey in it too. He was the security guard for the day time, he explained that a man named Trent was here for the night. Spencer explained the general rules of the apartment complex, gave me my key and then helped me wheel my luggage to the elevator.

As the elevator doors were closing, I heard a woman yell out "HOLD THE ELEVATOR!", so I quickly put my hand between the doors to stop them from closing. A short, almost pixie like, woman ran into the elevator. She was slightly out of breath as she said a thanks to me.

She had short black spiky hair that pointed in every single direction, a fair complexion while standing at 5'2 or maybe 5'3. It was hard to tell because she wore high heels. Her attire was stylish and looked rather expensive.

"You must be new here, I haven't seen you around before." She remarked. Wow, blunt and straight to the point.

"Yeah. I am. Moving in right now." I gave a nervous laugh.

"Well, pleased to meet you. I am Alice Brandon soon-to-be-Whitlock." She said with a brilliant smile.

I couldn't help but smile back. "Bella Swan." Alice and I chatted briefly. I found out the she lived four floors above me with her fiancée. I got out of the elevator on the ninth floor and said my goodbye to Alice.

"Bye!" She waved! "If you need anything, don't be scared to stop by. Fourteenth floor, apartment 31!" She managed to say right before the doors closed.

I smiled and shook my head. Hey, look at the bright side! At least I made a friend. Or rather an acquaintance. I walked down the hallway with my bags in tow. My arms were starting to wear out, since my arms were about as strong as spaghetti. I finally made it to my apartment door and unlocked it. I grinned as I walked in. Straight to my left opened the living room and the attached kitchen. On my right was a small bathroom. Down the hall on the right, there was a smaller bedroom. Opposite of that was the master bedroom and master bathroom.

The apartment was unfurnished, besides the odd bits and pieces that the previous owner had left in here. I left the bags into the living room and went to look around. In the living room there was a small sofa and a coffee table, which actually looked in pretty good condition. The kitchen had counters, a stove, a big fridge and a dark wood dining table. The bathrooms obviously had the essentials, toilet seat, sink and so on.

Over all I was happy with it, so happy that I even did a small happy dance in the middle of the empty bedroom. I unpacked my bags into the built in wardrobe in the master bedroom. I quickly showered and changed into an over sized t-shirt. I took my blanket and pillow that I had packed with me and fell asleep on the sofa.

I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The travelling had taken a bigger toll on then I had expected and the sofa was a lot more uncomfortable than I thought, but it didn't matter. I fell into a peaceful dream where a pair of emerald eyes shone back at me. Oh, my beautiful stranger from the plane.

**Edward.**

I watched as the petite brunette got into a cab, while I waited for Emmett, my cousin, to arrive. I was absolutely shattered after the business trip to New York. The two days that I had spent there were hectic and filled with meetings. I managed to get one of the last seats on the plane back to Seattle was a headache on it's own, also the fact that I nearly missed the flight didn't help much. I spent the time on the plane working and conversing with the woman next to me, Bella. She was distracting, which was good because I didn't have to think about how damn numb my ass was getting in the crappy seat.

Bella was... different. I don't know how to explain it, but she just was. She had a different personality to the people I am used to being in contact with. She was much more down to earth and all together natural.

I was pulled out my thoughts by a loud honk that came form a white Jeep Wrangler. I quickly dropped my small suitcase and briefcase into the backseat of the vehicle, then sat into the front.

"Hey man," I said as I pulled the passenger side door closed behind me. I patted Emmett on the shoulder as he drove away from the airport.

"Hey Eddie-boy. How was the trip?" Em asked, with one of his usual big toothy grin. Emmett was a big man, with the height of 6'4 and a shitload of muscle. He also had short dark hair, blue eyes and dimples, for some reason all of the women seemed to swoon at his dimples.

I groaned and rubbed my hands over my face. "As per usual. Filled with work." My eyelids felt heavy and I'm pretty sure I looked like shit. The lack of sleep was really starting to pick up on me. "Thanks for picking me up man. It would have been hellish to catch a cab right now."

"No problem, man. I know how those meeting are. I would say that I wish I could have been there, but I hate that shit so I'm not going to lie to you." He chuckled. Em was on the Board of Directors in a company called The Cullen Inc, which I was the CEO of. My father had started up the business when he graduated university. Now, if you start to think that I only became the CEO because it's my fathers business, you are truly wrong. I worked my ass off to get where I am today, think what you will. I graduated college with a business degree and then headed off from there.

When we finally got to the apartment building that I lived in, I said a quick good bye to Emmett and grabbed my bags. Emmett lived two blocks down from me, so it wasn't a long ride for him. I quickly greeted our security guard, well one of them. Irina was a nice woman, if you count out the fact that she looked like she could rip your dick off without blinking. I owned the penthouse apartment, an achievement I was very proud of. I bought it for myself as a birthday present last year. I turned 27, I had been the CEO just under a year and I was doing good.

I basically collapsed onto my sofa and took a deep breath in. I sat there for what seemed like an hour, not moving a single muscle. However, I did get up and forced myself to shower. I plugged my iPhone into the speaker system and pressed play to the last radio station that I was listening to. I undressed and stepped into the shower. I listened to the music and just stood there, I didn't even wash myself.

_You boys ever met a real country girl?  
Talkin, true blue, out in the woods, down home, country girl_

I sighed and rubbed my hands over my face. Of course they had to play this fucking song. Not that I minded, but the last thing I needed was to get a hard on because of some girl who I didn't even know.

_She's a hot little number in her pick-up truck  
Daddy's sweet money done jacked it up  
She's a party-all-nighter from South Carolina, a bad mamajama from down in Alabama  
She's a raging cajun, a lunatic from Brunswick, juicy Georgia peach  
With a thick southern drawl, sexy swing and walk, brother she's all_

I closed my eyes and leaned my forehead against the cold tile wall. I breathed in the moist air as my mind was filled with images of the brunette girl from the plane.

_Country, (shoot) from her cowboy boots to her down home roots  
She's country, from the songs she plays to the prayers she prays,  
That's the way she was born and raised, she ain't afraid to stay, country  
Brother she's country_

A hell raisin sugar when the sun goes down, mama taught her how to rip up a town  
Honey dripping honey from the hollerin Kentucky, getcha flippin kinda trippie like a Mississippi hippie,  
She's a Kansas princess, crazy mother trucker, undercover lover  
Thick southern drawl, sexy swing and walk,  
Brother she's all

Why was she even in my head? I have met beautiful women before and I have barely given them thought. Women who would go anything to be with me... While she just talked... and innocently flirted every now and then... how she blushed.

_Country (shoot) from her cowboy boots to her down home roots  
She's country, from the songs she plays to the prayers she prays,  
That's the way she was born and raised, she ain't afraid to stay, country  
Nothin' but country._

The way she bit her lower lip while she talked. I groaned and softly hit my head against the wall.

_(Thick southern drawl)  
(Sexy swing and walk)  
(Aw show 'em how a country girl does it one time now)_

_Brother she's country, from her cowboy boots to her down home roots_  
_Nothin but country_  
_Yea yeayeaaa_  
_She's country (shoot) from her cowboy boots to her down home roots_  
_She's country, from the songs she plays to the prayers she prays,_  
_That's the way she was born and raised she ain't afraid to stay, country_  
_Yea she's nothing but country_

_She's all about the country_  
_From the backwoods she's a homegrown, down to the bone, she's country._

The song ended and I sighed. I washed my hair and stepped out of the shower and out of the bathroom, into the cold air. Goosebumps covered my skin as the water drops dripped from my hair onto my shoulders. I pulled on a pair of boxers and towel dried my hair. After turning off the lights and turning the music off, I layed down on my bed.

With a deep breath out, I relaxed and it felt like I was melting into the mattress. Oh home, sweet home.

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**A/N: I do not know how often I will be able to update this story but I will try my best.**

**Also, characters and events will change in the edited version of this story so even to old readers this will hopefully be interesting as there are many new twists and turns coming!**


	2. Sure Feels Right

**Chapter 2 – Sure Feels Right**

_Well I don't know what you're doing to me,  
But it sure feels right._

_**Sixx:A.M – Sure Feels Right**_

**Bella.**

I woke up to an eerie silence in the apartment. For a while I just layed down between my sheets with a stupid grin on my face, because of the fact that I was actually in Seattle. Just after 9 A.M I got up and out of my make-shift bed which was actually a couch, and made my way to the bathroom.

After a quick shower, I changed into a pair of light blue ripped skinny jeans, a white tank top and a leather jacket. I pulled my damp hair into a messy bun at the top of my head, applied a little make up, pulled on my old brown leather boots and went to search for my purse. When I had located the bag, I made sure that everything that I needed was in there.

Right before I left the apartment as wave of sadness washed over me. The emptiness of the apartment reminded me of when Jacob had moved his stuff out. Jacob being my last and most serious relationship that left me absolutely heartbroken. I shook the thought of him out of my head and left my apartment.

I pulled up the directions to the closest IKEA, which thankfully wasn't far. I kept my eyes on the phone and the road. Around the moment when I sad about a kilometre more to walk, my phone vibrated alerting me that James was calling.

"Hey James," I said into the phone after pressing 'answer'.

"What part of 'call me when you land' don't you understand?" He asked, not even bothering to say hello.

"I'm great thanks for asking!" I said in a sticky sweet voice. "Look, I'm sorry James. It completely slipped my mind, I was so tired when I got to the apartment last night."

James sighed. "I was just a little bit worried, but I'm glad you got there okay."

"How's Victoria?" I asked. Vic and James started dating soon after James and I broke up. I actually the one who introduced the two.

"She's good, working lots but good. When can we come to visit?"

I shrugged, but then realized that he can't see me. "Any time, pretty much. I do need to get furniture into the place first but other than that you're always welcome."

"Good to know, good to know."

"Why are you up so early? It's like 9.45 and I know for a fact you never get out of bed before midday."

James chuckled. "Honey, you're not in Manhattan anymore. Time difference remember? It's almost one o'clock here."

"Oh yeah," I realized my stupidity. My phone let out a 'bling' alerting me that it was almost out of battery. After a quick glance, I noticed that I had 5% battery left. "Well, it's been nice to chat but my phone is dying."

"Yeah. Well, I'm glad you're good but I got to run too. I have a meeting that I'm almost late to. Bye honey." He said and hung up.

I didn't even bother saying my goodbye to the empty phone. I stopped walking and looked up, during the time that I was on my phone I had forgotten to look where I was walking so, I had no idea where I was. I tried to open the maps app on my phone, but it didn't open it due to my little battery.

"Fuck." I swore and ran my hand through my hair. I turned around and started walking back, hoping that I'd get back onto the street where was before.

After a little bit of walking I decided that I was completely lost. I spotted a hotel a little bit away from me, I figured that was my best chance. Especially because I needed to cool off too, the leather jacket was a little bit of a mistake because it was almost summer and really warm today. I walked into the hotel lobby, tired to look for somebody who could help me. There currently wasn't anyone in the reception.

"Okay, I'll have it done for you in two weeks." I heard an awfully familiar voice say.

"Great, thank you so much." Another voice said and I heard the click of heels walking toward the door.

I turned around and saw Alice standing there, with a folder in her hand.

"Alice?"

Her tiny head snapped up and when she saw me her face lit up with a smile. "Hey Bella! Nice to see you again."

"Indeed, if it only weren't under such embarrassing conditions."

She started walking toward me, quickly putting the folder into her bag. "How come?"

I blushed slightly. "I'm lost."

Alice let out a small giggle. "Where were you heading?"

"IKEA, but a friend called so I got distracted and lost." I admitted. "And my phone died, which makes this whole situation a lot better."

She grinned at me. "How about we go together? I was supposed to do some shopping a while back but never got around to it."

"Really?" I nodded. "That'd be great."

We went into the parking hall of the hotel and into Alice's car, which happened to be a bright yellow Porsche 911 Turbo. Tiny thing but lots of power.

"Nice ride." I couldn't help but comment.

"You're a car girl?" She questioned and turned on the engine.

"Not really, I picked up a thing or two growing up around boys though."

Alice nodded and sped out of the hotel. In only five minutes we were at an IKEA. The few hours that we spent together were great, I got to know her a little bit and she got to know me a little bit. Alice was just as fun as she seemed, with an endless amount of energy and things to talk about. I bought a few pieces of furniture that are going to be delivered to my place in five days, and some loose small bits and pieces that I simply fitted into a plastic bag.

As we were heading back to the apartment building, Alice asked me to dinner at her place tomorrow evening. She also mentioned that her fiancée, two cousins and a cousins plus one were attending.

"Really? I mean thank you, but I don't want to intrude." I said.

"Oh no, not at all. I'm sure everyone would be happy to have you there, plus I have a feeling we are going to be great friends."

I hesitated. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" She grinned and pulled into the parking hall connected to our building.

I sighed. "Okay I'll come, but I'm bringing dessert!"

Alice sighed. "Alright, if that's what it takes. Around seven sound good?"

"Seven is great." I said and got out of the car.

We chatted a little about dinner as we were making our way to the elevator. Not soon after I said my goodbye and went to my apartment. I placed the IKEA plastic bag into the living room and kicked off my shoes. I plugged my phone to the wall.

The next day I went to the grocery shop to buy everything that I needed to make dessert, and also food in general. I briefly spoke to Angela in the morning, she and Ben were doing well. I missed her a lot.

As I was making dessert, delicious banana pudding, I decided to call Sam, a childhood friend. He however didn't answer. Soon enough seven o'clock rolled around and with a last check of how I looked I was out the door.

I wore my black high-waisted skinny jeans, with a navy blue chiffon shirt and a pair of navy wedges. My hair was in loose waves around my face and I kept my make up fairly light. I put on some simple rose-gold jewellery and a small black clutch.

As I was heading over there I could say that I was definitely nervous. With a mere few seconds from when I rang the doorbell, Alice opened it with a huge grin on her face. "Bella! Welcome!" She opened the door wider so I could pass through. Alice was dressed surprisingly casual, and I started silently freaking out that I was over dress and a complete nutjob at that.

She wore skinny light blue jeans with a coral button up shirt with it, the front was tied and the sleeves rolled up. Her hair was spiky, as always, with two golden pearls on her ears, a small flower necklace on her neck and her engagement ring on her finger.

Alice took the dessert out of my hand and placed it onto a small cupboard as we entered the living room. I was immediately stunned by Alice's home. It was beautiful and modern but it had a bit of an old countryside touch to it. When you describe it like that, it sounds awfully dodgy and not at all nice but it was stunning and worked well. After a quick tour of the living room, bathrooms, three bedrooms and the office we finally arrived into the kitchen.

A tall male, maybe 6'3 by the looks of it, with a mess of blonde hair that reached his chin, covered by a slight stubble. He wore black fitted jeans, a black tank top and over it a blue and white plaid shirt, rolled up at the sleeves and unbuttoned in the front. He obviously head us coming into the kitchen because Alice kept talking.

His blue eyes caught mine and he offered me a warm smile. "Jasper Whitlock, ma'am." He reached his hand out toward me. His voice was laced with a think southern accent.

"Bella Swan, pleasure." I smiled and shook his hand.

"Pleasure is all mine." He said and turned around to stir something in a pot. "So you are the Bella who has caught Alice's interest."

"Apparently so." I said. "Mind I ask what you are cooking? It smells divine."

"I'm making Grandma Whitlocks special meal that at some point got given the name of '_Cowboy's Meal_'. It's basically spiced meat with some oven potatoes, including spice sauce."

"Sounds great."

"I believe you made dessert?"

"Oh yes,"

Just as I said that the doorbell rang and Alice hopped off the counter she was sitting on. "I'll get the dessert too." She said as she walked out of the room.

"I made banana pudding, in case you were wondering."

"Awesome." Jasper shot me a smile. "So Bella, where are you from?"

I sighed. "Here and there, really. I was born in Forks, lived there for about eight years. Then moved to North Carolina because my mom lived there. After ten years, when I turned eighteen I moved to New York. And now I'm here."

"So you get the accent from North Carolina, eh?" It wasn't even a question.

"Yeah, although you can barely call it that. It's not very noticeable, or that's what I've been told." I shrugged.

"Rose is here!" I head Alice say and she came into the room with my tray of 12 banana puddings in hand and a gorgeous blonde in tow.

I have to admit that my self confidence took a rather big blow when I saw her. She was tall, 5'7 or 5'8, with a beautifully curvy body and long healthy blonde hair. All in all she was drop dead gorgeous in high-waisted white shorts, a floral vest top and white heels with black accents. Ontop of her head she had expensive looking sunglasses and over her shoulder was a pinky-nude Chanel bag.

She gave me a small smile. "Rosalie Hale."

"Bella Swan, nice to meet you."

She wasn't exactly cold toward me, but I could tell that I needed to earn her trust when it came to her and also her friends. She greeted Jasper with a quick kiss on his cheek and muttering a small hello. "Em and Ed will be here as soon as possible. I was just on the phone with Em and he said that they'll be leaving the office as soon as possible."

"Perfect, they'll be here right when the food is done."

I learned that Em and Ed were Alice's cousins and that Rosalie was dating Em. After a little while of simple chit-chat, my phone rang with the caller ID saying it's Sam. I excused myself and went to the living room to speak.

"Hey Sam." I said as I answered the call.

"Hey, Bells. You gave me a call earlier."

I sat down onto the light brown leather couch. "Yeah, um since I'm in Seattle now. I was wondering if you want to come and help me put together my furniture four days from now?"

"Sure. Text me your address and the time, and I'll be there. Mind if I bring Paul?"

"Not at all. How is he anyway? I haven't spoken to him in a while." I wondered.

"That's kind of the reason why I want to bring him. You remember that he and Rachel, Jake's cousin, got together a while back now, yeah?"

I winced slightly when he mentioned Jacob. "Yeah, I remember."

"Rach cheated on him with some fellow from Utah. He found out and she left him to go to live with the other man."

My heart bled for Paul. "Aww shit. Oh my God. When was this?" I knew what it was like to be cheated on.

"About a month or so ago." He sighed. "He puts on a good face but I know it's eating him alive. Plus being in La Push doesn't help much either."

"You could even stay with me for a week or so, if you wanted to." I offered.

"I'll run it by him." Sam said. "Oh and one more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Jake's been asking about you."

I fell silent. "O-okay?"

"I um. I think he wants you back. At least that's what I've gathered from what the says." Sam sighed. "We're keeping an eye on him, but yeah. Thought that I would let you know."

"Thanks, Sam. I really do appreciate it. Listen, hey. I've got to go. I'm at neighbours house for dinner and I don't want to keep them waiting."

"Sure. Bye Bells."

"Don't forget to talk to Paul! Bye Sam." I said and hung up. I put the phone back into my clutch. I got up from the couch and walked back to the kitchen.

Two more people had arrived, judging by the amount of voices that I heard. The first who I could see though the doorway as I was walking, was a tall, 6'4 easily, and muscular man. He reminded me of a bear and I was honestly a little terrified of him. He wore black dress pants and a light blue dress shirt. He had short curly brownish black hair.

I put a smile onto my face as I re-entered the kitchen. I found out that the bear of a man was called Emmett, Em for short. He greeted me with a warm hug and I could tell there was little to be terrified of.

I turned to look at the second person who as new in the room. I halted when I saw that it was the Adonis from the plane. He was dressed in khaki dress pants and a white dress shirt, the two top buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up. He looked great. Edward grinned at me and leaned back against the counter. Then it clicked. Ed stood for Edward.

"The world's a very small place isn't it?" I wondered.

"I was just thinking the same thing." He said, the grin still playing on his lips. "Nice to see you again."

"Indeed it is."

"You two know each other?" Alice wondered.

"Just a little." I commented with a small smile.

"So, should I shake your hand or am I good enough for a hug?" He asked me, his grin turning into a smirk.

"Hmm..." I narrowed my eyes at him a little, playfully of course. "You decide."

"I would go for a kiss." The smirk was still of his lips and his eyes were playful. This didn't seem like the Edward I met of the plane, but I think I liked this version of Edward more.

"Don't push it, you almost got a hug." I smiled.

"Oh will you two shut up, you'll make everyone sick before we even start dinner." Jasper laughed at us. "Dining room, go!" Everyone started moving out of the kitchen and into the dining room. There were six seats at the table, the seats on the ends were always meant for the hosts, Em and Rosalie went to sit next to each other which left Edward and I together.

Jasper served us the food and everyone dug in. The dinner was great, we had good food and brilliant company. I even felt like Rosalie started warming up to me, just a little. I liked this group of friends, they had their own dynamic which worked very well. After we were done with the dessert, all of us headed to the living room with their wine glasses. Edward and Jasper excused themselves to head outside for a smoke.

"What do you do Bella?" Emmett asked.

"For living?" I questioned. Em nodded. "I read books." I smiled. "I work for a publishing company, which is good because I can work from basically anywhere. Also I'm going for an interview for a part-time job with the club Eclipse."

"Eclipse? Isn't that owned by Da Revin?" Alice asked.

Rosalie nodded from the other table. "Yeah, Laurent Da Revin. I did P.R for the club when it opened. What is the interview for?"

"In the job description it said that I'd be at the door or coat check, which in itself isn't that bad. It's a break from reading all of those books, I mean I barely used to get out." I sipped my wine. Jasper and Edward came back into the room just as I finished the sentence. Edward with his phone to his ear.

"I don't give a damn what they said! No, I don't need Mrs. Cornwell to do any sort of fundraising. That was Cullen Inc's responsibility and we did more than enough of it with the party. We raised double the amount that was needed and some more." Edward's voice was professional and rather impersonal, but it was borderline rude. I noticed Emmett's eyebrows pull together. "I'm not flying to Wyoming. That's that. The end of it. You can continue to argue with me or explain to Mrs. Cornwell herself that our work is done and we have no further obligations with this matter. The choice is yours."

All the way on the couch I could hear a woman shouting at him. He simply pressed the end call button in the middle of her sentence.

"Is the Children's Sunshine Today organization unhappy?" Emmett questioned, though it sounded like he already knew the answer to the question. "Or was whoever on the phone yelling at you just to yell? Which I do understand on their part."

Edward sighed. "I think it was actually the latter." He sat down on the single armchair not too far away from me, while running his hand through his hair. Edward visibly switched back from entrepreneur mode into casual.

"What do they want?" Emmett wondered.

"Can you _please_ not talk about work?" Alice questioned. "C'mon guys. If this is the best you can do around new people then I will probably never see Bella again."

"I don't mind work talk." I piped in, I was in no position to make demands with this group of friends and I really didn't mind work talk to be honest.

"Let me explain then," Emmett offered and I gave him a nod to show that I was listening. "CST, the organization is arranging a summer camp for children with various disabilities. Cullen Inc. and the CST came to an agreement that we would raise money to get the camp running. It's great business, good publicity for us plus we get to help kids. Since we are a advertising and marketing based company, pulling off charity parties and whatnot is not that difficult. We pulled our weight with the project already but they apparently don't think so."

Edward's phone buzzed in his pocket and Alice groaned. "Can't you turn the damn thing off for one night?"

Edward shrugged. "So much from my evening off." He rolled his eyes before answering the call. "Edward Cullen." The entrepreneur was back. As I listened to him talk, I could see that he carried himself with confidence and ease. He seemed to be good at his job and he also seemed to know it. Edward walked back out into the balcony.

"That's Edward, always working." Alice sighed, her eyes worried and her mouth in a slight frown. Jasper wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her head.

"Oh stop moping, Alice. Like he's ever going to change." Rosalie said with a slight smile. "Now. More wine everyone?"

**_x_**

A half an hour after Edward went onto the balcony he returned with the phone still on his ear. Everyone in the room was laughing and quite tipsy.

"I know they want me to fly out right away but I am unable to do so." Edward sighed and ran his hand through his hair. Messing it up even more, which made me want to do the same. It seemed to smooth and silky. "You know why I can't leave. I just spent half an hour of my very very valuable time explaining exactly why." He paused and everyone's attention went onto him. "Tanya, please. No, it's not about my family. Oh Jesus motherfucking Christ!" He paused again. "Look, you fly out there and I'll send somebody as a replacement on my part. Yes, it probably will be Emmett."

"No it won't." Emmett disagreed.

"Deal with it." Edward spoke, both to the 'Tanya' on the phone and to Emmett. "If he's free, it will be him on the plane. Alright great. I'll talk to you tomorrow. Yes... You too. Bye." He hung up the phone with another sigh. "Emmett, you nee-"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow." Em interrupted. After that it was conversation about everything and nothing.

I left the apartment a little after midnight. With promises of meeting Alice and Rose for lunch soon. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I walked back to my apartment, I had made acquaintances already and I really liked them.

Now being in this city started to finally feel right.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you everyone for your patience for this chapter. I wanted to make sure that it was as polished as possible.**

**As always the link to my blog is in my profile where you can find the outfit pictures from this chapter! Also if you're too lazy to click to my profile then here - shhiminvisiblefanfiction dot blogger-dot com  
**

**Until next time :)**

**- R**


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